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With dependable plays declining, Romo’s arsenal is stymied

Now that the Cowboys’ coaches have a bye week to step back and assess where this team stands, they must confront a troubling piece of evidence.

For the first time in Jason Garrett’s tenure as head coach, it’s difficult to argue that the Cowboys are making progress.

A 16-point loss to Chicago and a 20-point defeat to Seattle have put a damper on the start to this season. It’s also part of a bigger trend.

The team’s first nine losses under Garrett came by an average of six points. Seven of those were by four points or less.

The last four losses have been by an average of 16.5 points. The losses to the Seahawks and Bears rank among the four worst since Garrett took over for Wade Phillips midway through the 2010 season.

What is Garrett’s view of the rising margin of defeat?

“I think it just highlights the points we try to make,’’ Garrett said. “If you think about the game we played in Seattle with the turnover on the opening kickoff and then the blocked punt early in the ball game. And then this game with the five turnovers, it really goes to show you a handful of these plays in a ballgame can really swing the game.

“You have two interceptions returned for touchdowns [vs. Chicago] and then another one in the red zone where you probably kick a field goal or score a touchdown, it’s a 17- or 21-point swing on three plays. Then you get yourself into a situation where you’re playing from behind and then you’re being overly aggressive on offense or defense.’’

Turnovers bad. Garrett and his staff stress that point on a weekly basis. It obviously hasn’t taken hold.

Don’t blame the Cowboys’ defense for a 2-2 start for the third time in the last four seasons. That side of the ball has improved noticeably despite missing key starters to injuries.

An offensive decline is the main source of concern.

The Cowboys’ average of 16.2 points is only one spot removed from the bottom of the NFL and is 8.5 points less than the team averaged through the first four games of last season.

The trend here, just as it is with the margin of defeat, is moving in the wrong direction.

The Cowboys have been held below 20 points in three consecutive games for the first time since Garrett added the title of head coach to his duties as offensive coordinator and play-caller. The offense has scored 20 or fewer points in seven of its last 10 games dating back to Thanksgiving of last season.

The offense failed to score more than 20 points only four times in Garrett’s first 18 games as head coach.

A deficient run game is a sore point through the first four games of this season. The Cowboys rank No. 30 with an average of 67.8 yards. That limits what Garrett can call.

“Well, you like to have things that are given in your offense when you’re calling plays,’’ Garrett said. “You like to be able to say, ‘Hey, I can run the ball off tackle here, and we’re going to make 4 yards and then I’ll keep this manageable rather than have some of the negative runs that we’ve had.’

“Similarly, you like to do that in the passing game. You like to be able to go, ‘Hey, bang, we can throw that ball for 8 yards and here we go, it’s second and 2. We can convert that for a first down.’ You’re looking for as many givens as you can get to keep that ball moving, give yourself a chance to make some bigger plays.’’

There have been precious few givens in the Cowboys’ offense this season. Running back DeMarco Murray has had only one strong half, and that came in the second half of the win over the New York Giants on opening night.

Tight end Jason Witten got off to a slow start with a lacerated spleen until recapturing his form in the loss to Chicago. Receiver Dez Bryant has been erratic, and to a lesser extent, so has Kevin Ogletree.

Other than receiver Miles Austin, Garrett and quarterback Tony Romo have had no place to turn where they can expect a consistent result.

“What you have to do is keep banging away at it,’’ Garrett said. “There have been situations where we’ve been behind and we’ve had to score more quickly, so we’ve had to throw the ball more than we would probably like.

“Balance helps everybody. You have to persist through some of those things. Hopefully we can get into some game situations where we can do that and maintain that balance for four quarters.

“I think that helps.’’

What the Cowboys must do is cut down on turnovers. They must improve in the offensive line to open some holes for Murray and become more efficient on offense.

“Ultimately, I believe we’ve got the right guys to get it done,’’ Witten said. “But you’ve got to be able to execute plays.

“We’ve got to play better.’’

Catch David Moore on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310) three days a week with The Musers (Mon-Wed-Fri) at 9:35 a.m. and The Hardline (Tue-Wed-Fri) at 3:50 p.m. and twice a week (Wed-Fri) with BaD radio during the regular season.